Koi ponds will surely enhance the beauty of your garden. These fish ponds can become the center of attention in your garden especially if your Koi fishes are healthy and alert. There is no doubt that a healthy Koi will be admired by your children and friends. However, there are also other creatures that are interested in your Koi fishes. These are the land and air predators that look at your Koi with hungry eyes. Predation is one of the biggest problems that you can encounter when you have a Koi pond. That is why you have to install anti predator barriers and devices in order to protect your beautiful Koi fishes and keep them alive.
One of the first things that you have to do to protect the Koi is to build deep fish ponds. If Koi ponds are deep enough, then those pesky herons will not be able to stand in the pond to feast on your Koi. A deep pond will also enable the Koi to swim away and hide from air and land predators. They can hide at the bottom of the pond and no predator will be able to reach them. It is best also if you can install an open fish cage or rock ledges at the bottom of the pond. These structures will be used by the Koi as sanctuaries whenever they sense danger above ground. An underwater rock ledge or cage is also a good sanctuary in case the water temperature at the surface becomes too unbearable for the Koi fish.
Fancy anti predator gadgets can also be used on Koi ponds to keep hungry predators away. For example, you can install a motion sensitive water sprinkler in your fish ponds. This device can be activated by movements around the pond. So if a wily fox, raccoon, or cat attempts to go near the pond to snatch some delicious Koi, the sprinkler will be activated automatically thus scaring away these hungry land mammals. Just make sure to deactivate the anti predator sprinkler when you want to get near the Koi pond. If you forget to deactivate your Koi security system, then you will get the surprise of your life and will end up dripping wet.
Natural plants and rocks are also ideal anti predator barriers. For example, you can plant tall plants around the edges of fish ponds to keep land mammals away from the water. As additional barriers, you can put rocks and boulders around the Koi ponds and under the surrounding plants. These rocks will prevent raccoons and cats from reaching in to the water to catch the fish. To protect the Koi from air predators, the best natural barriers are water lilies. Floating lilies can serve as protective shield for the Koi. If there are floating water plants on your fish pond, then predatory birds will have a difficult time zeroing in on your Koi. These natural barriers will not provide 100 percent protection for your Koi but they can minimize predatory attacks.
Do you want to install fish ponds in your garden? Then visit our website today so you can learn everything about Koi ponds and how to keep them clean, clear, healthy, and safe. |
